Ecological Monitoring of Four Species of Vultures for Five Years in Arghakhanchi, Nepal
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Ecological Monitoring of Four Species of Vultures for Five Years in Arghakhanchi, Nepal By Krishna Prasad Bhusal Hemanta Dhakal Final Report Submitted to The Peregrine Fund World Center for Birds of Prey 5668 West Flying Hawk Lane Boise, Idaho 83709, USA 2014 Ecological Monitoring of Four Species of Vultures for Five Years in Arghakhanchi, Nepal Final Report Submitted to The Peregrine Fund World Center for Birds of Prey 5668 West Flying Hawk Lane Boise, Idaho 83709, USA 2014 Krishna Prasad Bhusal Hemanta Dhakal Field Biologist Conservation Biologist Bird Conservation Nepal (BCN) Corona of Agriculture Lazimpat, Kathmandu, Nepal Chitwan, Nepal Email:- [email protected] Email:[email protected] [email protected] Web:- www.birdlifenepal.org © 2014 Authors Cover Photo:-White-rumped Vulture adult and chick in nest, Arghakhanchi/Krishna Bhusal ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Five years of ecological monitoring and comparative study of vultures in Arghakhanchi district, Nepal between 2010 and 2014 was possible due to the joint effort of many people and organizations. We would like to acknowledge The Peregrine Fund (TPF), USA for funding and supporting this project. We would like to express our deep gratitude to Dr Munir Z. Virani for his guidance and cooperation to implement the project. We highly appreciate the support of Dr Richard Cuthbert(RSPB), Mr Anand Chaudhary(BCN) and Mr Tulsi Subedi(Raptor Biologist). Ishana Thapa and Khadananda Paudel from BCN deserve acknowledgments for their suggestion and co operation during the project work. Last but not the least we would like to thank local people, community forest user group, social activist, veterinary practitioners, media personnel and district government authorities of Arghakhanchi district for their kind support, feedback and provide local knowledge during our fieldwork. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT…………….………………………………………………………………………1 INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND...………………………………………………………...2 PROJECT AREA………………………………………………………………………………..3 OBJECTIVES…………………………………………………………………………………...4 METHODOLOGY………………………………………………………………………………5 RESULT.............................................................................................................................…...6-11 ECOLOGICAL MONITORING OF VULTURES COLONY………………………………..6-8 Nest Number Trend of Vultures from 2010-2014 in Arghakhanchi…..……………….6 Breeding Status of White-rumped Vulture from 2010-2014…………………………..6 Breeding Status of Egyptian Vulture from 2010-2014………………………………...7 Breeding Status of Himalayan Griffon from 2010-2014……………………………….8 Breeding Status of Lammergeier from 2010-2014.....................................................….8 INTER SPECIES RELATIONSHIP OBSERVATION……………………………………….9 COMMUNITY AWARENESS and ADVOCACY…………………………………………..9-11 Diclofenac Free Zone Declaration……………………………………………………..9 District Level Stakeholder Meeting……………………………………………………10 Community Awareness………………………………………………………………..10 School Education Programme…………………………………………………………11 KEY ACHIEVEMENTS……………………………………………………………………...12 KEY RECOMMENDATION…………………………………………………………………12 REFERENCES………………………………………………………………………………13-14 ANNEX...…………………………………………………………………………………….15-18 PHOTO PLATE..…………………………………………………………………………….19-21 ABSTRACT The ecological monitoring of Critically Endangered White-rumped Vulture, Endangered Egyptian Vulture, Near Threatened Himalayan Griffon and Lammergeier colony with enhancing the capacity of local communities on vulture conservation and spread the conservation messages have been done for last five years over the Arghakhanchi district. The nest number of White- rumped Vulture, Egyptian Vulture and Himalayan Griffon is increased by 38.46%, 133.33% and 39.28% from 2010 to 2014 in Arghakhanchi district respectively where as the nest number of Lammergeier is decreased by 50% from 2010 to 2014. The rate of breeding success (based on active nest) of White-rumped Vulture, Egyptian Vulture, Himalayan Griffon and Lammergeier is 53.84%, 50%, 65% and 100% respectively in 2010 and calculated 71.42%, 60%, 65.71% and 0% of respective species in 2014 breeding season in Arghakhanchi district. This was a pioneer study about three vulture species association in their nesting cliff Gherabhir, Arghakhanchi. As a result of advocacy, frequent monitoring of Agro vets and NSAIDs survey; Arghakhanchi district was declared as Diclofenac Free Zones by the local government, veterinary community, political parties, conservation organisations and community forest user groups which make up a part of 1,193 km2 Vulture Safe Zone in Nepal. The advocacy with stakeholder and community awareness trigger up the community initiative to save the critically endangered vulture species feeling ownership. Community forest user groups plan to include vulture conservation activities in their forest operation plan aiming to sustain conservation programme practically as well as legally. Massive sensitisation work was carried out in schools, communities, among veterinary groups and widely through mass media. Key activities of the project were done in coordination with government line agencies and local conservation groups which have helped widen the implication of the project. There is handover of knowledge and skills to the community so that they can continue carrying out activities like nest monitoring, monitoring of vulture population and NSAIDs survey. INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND Vultures are medium to large sized scavenging birds, feeding mostly on the carcasses of dead animals and are found on every continent except Antarctica and Oceania (Del Hoyo et al 1994). Vultures are the primary consumers of carrion in Asia and Africa, with an individual Gyps vulture consuming around 1 kg of tissue every three days (Mundy et al. 1992). They do safely disposing off dead animals and help in preventing the spread of zoonotic diseases. There are nine species of vultures recorded from Indian subcontinent of which five belongs to the genus Gyps (Prakash 1999). Four species of vultures in Asia are in grave danger of extinction across the Indian subcontinent. Population of oriental White-rumped vulture, long-billed vulture and Slender- billed vulture have declined by more than 97% in India (Prakash et al. 2003). Due to these declines, all three species were listed as critically endangered by IUCN 2000, which is highest category of endangerment. Further to this two more species Red-headed vulture and Egyptian vulture are listed as critically endangered and endangered respectively in 2007. Vultures are highly susceptible to Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatary Drug, diclofenac, they are exposed to the drug through the carcasses of treated livestock. Diclofenac kills gyps vultures (Oaks et al. 2004; Swan et al 2006) including Himalayan Griffon (Das et al. 2010) and possibly other species as they too have declined (Cuthbert et al. 2006; Acharya et al 2009). In order to halt the decline of these critically endangered birds, Government of Nepal put ban on production, import and use of veterinary diclofenac and endorsed Vulture Conservation Action Plan for Nepal (2009-13). The main objective of Vulture Conservation Action Plan was to prevent the extinction of vulture species by ensuring re-introduction, safe food supply, maintenance of suitable habitat and better understanding of the ecological importance of these birds in Nepal with a goal to revive viable population of vultures in the wild. Vulture Conservation and Breeding Centre was established on 2008. We have been monitoring the breeding status of four species of vulture; White-rumped Vulture, Egyptian Vulture, Himalayan Griffon and Lammergeier in the northern part of Arghakhanchi district, Nepal since 2009-10 breeding season. In this report, we estimate the nesting and breeding success trend with inter species relationship in their nesting site. PROJECT AREA The project area Arghakhanchi district is not designated as protected area in country lies in the western mid hill region of Nepal. The district covers a total of 1,193 km² area with the elevation ranging 305-2515 masl. Geographically the district is situated between 27˚45' North to 28˚6 North latitude and 80˚45” East to 83˚23” East longitude. Its about 68% of the total area lies in the Mahabharat Range, and the remaining lies in the Siwalik Region, while 54.37% of its total area is covered by forest. The climatic condition of district is ranges from sub-tropical to temperate. Most of the nests of vultures are situated in the northern part of Arghakhanchi district. Garta Khahare community forest, Khahare Khola community forest and Government forest of Garlam lies in the Argha VDC supports the habitat of Critically Endangered White-rumped Vulture. There are three nesting colonies and all nests are in the trunk of Pine (Pinus roxburghii) tree. Geographically the whole block of White-rumped Vulture nesting site is situated between 28°00'49.1'' North to 28°01'25.5'' North latitude and 83°07'18.6'' East to 83°06'11.9'' East longitude and altitude ranges from 1061 m to 1382 m (Annex-7). Gherabhir is rocky mountain elevated about 1,732 m to 2,200 m from sea level and lies in the junction of Hansapur and Khanadaha VDCs. South facing cliff of Gherabhir is habitat of three species of vulture namely Himalayan Griffon, Egyptian Vulture and Lammergeier. Geographically the cliff is situated between 28°03'35.6'' North to 28°03'50.9'' North latitude and 83°05'18.4'' East to 83°05'59.6'' East longitude (Annex-6). Egyptian Vulture nesting is also distributed in other VDCs naming Dharapani, Dibharna, Kimdanda and Dhakabang. This